Prosecutor General's 'Eyes and Ears' Role: Supreme Prosecutors' Office Investigation Information Division Reorganized into Information Management Division

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[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] The Investigation Information Officer's Office (Sujeonggwan Office) of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, which has served as the eyes and ears of the Prosecutor General, will be reorganized into the "Information Management Officer's Office."

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety announced on the 22nd that it will publicly notify the partial amendment ordinance of the "Regulations on the Organization of the Prosecutor's Office," which includes this content, until the 23rd.

The government explained that this amendment was proposed to adjust the functions of investigation information collection, management, analysis, verification, and evaluation that the Sujeonggwan Office has been responsible for.

The Sujeonggwan Office began in 1999 as the Crime Information Planning Office established within the Supreme Prosecutors' Office and has recently played a role in collecting and organizing investigation information from prosecution offices nationwide to support the Prosecutor General's investigation command decisions. It has been regarded as the eyes and ears of the Prosecutor General for this reason.

Under the Moon Jae-in administration, as part of prosecution reform policies, the information collection function of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office was gradually reduced, and the Sujeonggwan Office could not avoid reorganization. In 2017, after Prosecutor General Moon Moo-il took office, the Crime Information Planning Office was reorganized and renamed the "Investigation Information Policy Office" in early 2018. In September 2020, the Investigation Information Policy Office, which had been led by a deputy prosecutor general-level official, was abolished, and the subordinate Investigation Information Officer positions, which had two chief prosecutor-level officials, were reduced to one.

During Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl's tenure, controversies such as judicial surveillance and allegations of solicitation of complaints arose, leading to calls for the abolition of the Sujeonggwan Office. Amid this, Minister of Justice Park Beom-gye expressed his position to abolish the Sujeonggwan Office. In a media interview at the end of last year, he said, "The direction is to separate the functions of investigation information collection and verification," adding, "We will completely nullify the legal basis for the Sujeonggwan Office and create new regulations to redesign it. There is no major disagreement with the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, and an announcement will be made soon."

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